two years

Two years. I can't believe it has been two years since I walked down the aisle that I had been longing to walk down for so long! I can't believe it has been two years since we promised forever to each other. I have learned so much. I have grown so much. I have cried many tears and laughed way more. Husband, you are the greatest. You are such an encouragement to me and such a great leader to our family. I am excited to see what the Lord has for us as we embark on our third year as husband and wife. Thank you for loving me well.

To God be the glory!! GREAT things He has done!! May we glorify Him more this year than we did last year! :)

It's Fall!

Hello! Hello! It has been too long....as usual. We have moved out of September and are halfway through October? What? Life has been so busy. Isn't that what I say every single time? Yes. Between school and photography and life in general I cannot keep up. Sometimes life just needs to be lived and not written about. However, I do enjoy this little space and would like to be a more frequent visitor to my own site! :)

In the last months we have been busy with work, family visits, a little traveling, and much more. I'll hit the high points. One of the most exciting things was at the end of September we found out that the next little Jacobs baby will be a boy! We are so excited that we are getting a baby boy to love on!  Hurry up February!

Brett and I have enjoyed the fall so much. While we know that during the last two football seasons, we were in the center of God's will, it has been so nice having my husband home each afternoon and on Friday nights! What a blessing!

As far as photography, things are so busy. I am very thankful but it certainly is tough to balance it all! I definitely want to share more of my recent shoots! I am so happy that people allow me the privilege to capture their memories and I want to share those in this space soon! I am also the proud owner of a brand new camera! Ah....I did my first shoot with this baby this past weekend and  am looking forward to several more shoots this week! :)

Brett and I also did some location scouting and tested it out to get some shots of me for something I am working on. As you can see I was only slightly awkward being in front of the camera! :)

I love my husband!

I'll leave you with a lovely "fallish" picture of sweet Lucy at the pumpkin patch! Why oh why does it not feel like fall outside? Praying for cooler temperatures to make their way to us soon!!

Happy Monday! Looking forward to a short work week at school! :)

Currently...

I get the urge to write in this little space at the most random of times. Sadly, those random times have become few and far between. I hate that. I thought I'd catch up a little bit since I have started school....

Currently...

wishing for......fall weather. In general, I am a summer girl to the core but, I can't help but wish for some boot and scarf weather! :)

reading.....One Thousand Gifts and it is so so good. It is such a great reminder for me to stop, look around, and be thankful for EVERY little thing. So often I am thankful for the big things but not the little things that might happen each day.

itching....to know if the new baby Jacobs will be a boy or a girl! :)

wanting....this camera. I have been saving and am almost there...

thanking....the Lord for His faithfulness and continued provision

needing.....to blog about Lucy's first birthday!

loving...my husband and how hard he has been working for us

clinging to....."I am the Lord, I do not change!" -Malachi 3:6

praying...for joy in all circumstances!

thinking....about everything going on these next few weeks and how busy it will be.

feeling....tired and needing to get to bed :)

Goodnight!

Hello 5th Grade! Ready or not!

Today was my last day of summer vacation. I say that quite sadly if I am being honest. The past couple of months have been so busy. I have had a lot going on with my photography business and then more recently in the last couple of weeks, a lot going on with getting prepared to start the school year. But, every teacher will tell you....no matter how busy your summer is, nothing beats waking up without an alarm clock (even if it is 6:45), planning a day out (even if it includes cleaning your house), or going shopping in the middle of the day (even if it is just for groceries!). So again, while the summer may not have been glamorous, it was a nice break.

I spent my last day of summer in the best way and doing the things I love. Breakfast with my husband, time with my mom, sister, and niece, a quick swim, blogging, a little editing, and more time with my husband. It's the little things. I have to say, with the start of this school year I have wanted to dig my heels in a little bit. There have been several, "but God"s thrown out in my prayers lately. "But God, I have so much going on!" or "But God, I have two jobs! How can I balance this?" or "But God, I am not sure I remember how to balance teaching, laundry, cooking, cleaning, etc." :) Thankfully, when I deserve to hear, "Suck it up and be thankful for what I give you!" He is full of grace. He has so sweetly reminded me and whispered a few things to me lately. "Laura, my grace is sufficient" and "Trust me" and "This is the work I have for you. Do the next thing." I am grateful for His grace in my life.

Last night we met our students and parents. Over the past week of busily trying to prepare for school to start I haven't really been able to get excited about things. But last night, as I was blessed by many of the parents that I met, I was able to get excited.

God has been gracious to use people, His Word, and other situations to encourage me right when I need it. So, ready or not, here comes another school year. Praying for a grateful heart and a hardworking spirit. After all, this is the work He has given me! May I serve Him well!

Around Here

Around here we have been BUSY. Last week my sister-in-law brought my two nieces to town to stay while she and my brother went on a little vacation. So, those babies are here and it has been so busy and so fun! We have done a lot of swimming, some crafts, gone on walks, taken lots of pictures,  and entertained three little ones. P.S. Three babies is exhausting. Just saying. 

Little mermaid! :)

Love these sisters! :)

Jimpa and VirginiaLove this big girl! :)

They will also be here for the weekend to celebrate this baby girl turning 1! Can't believe it has been a year! :)

Other than that, I am trying to sneak out here and there to get ready for a new school year. Is summer really over already? Ahh.... I will also be celebrating my 25th birthday Thursday! Gracious....me! It is going to be a busy few weeks!

I am just so thankful for God's grace! He has been showing me so much and I have learned a lot about prayer and that He hears me. I am in such need of His grace DAILY! What a loving Father we serve.

Hello There, It's been a bit!

Well, where to begin? I feel like so much has happened and yet I don't know if there is a way to remember all that has happened during this time. We will have to go with a pictures update instead to get you caught up on the craziness of this busy time!

First of all, Brett and I have been doing a lot to finish up various projects in our home!

New throw pillows on the bed....Brett loves having multiple pillows and the fact that they are monogrammed makes him love them all the more! :)

Our master bath does not have a linen closet. Since we moved in we have searched for something to go in the bathroom to hold towels, sheets, etc. Finally, we found something and although it was too big to go in the bathroom, our bedroom was big enough and I just love it.

Oh, and then my awesome husband built this bookshelf! Yeah, it looks fabulous!

Don't worry, we haven't neglected the outside. :) We kind of love being outside and since last year with having a garden I pretty much think I have a green thumb or something. Haha! But seriously, I love having plants and seeing them grow! :)

Just watering azaleas! :)

Oh, and again, husband built this table for our porch out of pallets. Seriously so handy! :)

We also planted our garden this past weekend! Praying for tomatoes, bell peppers, sweet peas, zucchini, squash and more! :)

Other than that, we have been very busy. I have been busy with school and photography! Brett got to celebrate his spring break last week and I will begin mine tomorrow! I am more than ready for a week to relax!

Oh, and let me just say....I am incredibly thankful for my husband. He shows me so much grace and is such an encouragement. I don't deserve him but am so grateful God made him just for me! :)

Perhaps while on spring break I will blog a bit more! :)

A Few Ramblings

I am simply terrible at getting a decent post out these days. I seem to wait and wait and finally just spit it all out and most likely forget important updates.

Anyways, February has been an incredibly quick month and March is upon us. I just cannot believe it. We celebrated my sweet husbands birthday this month. Let me just take a minute to talk about how thankful I am for him. I feel incredibly privileged to do life with him and be his wife. He is a true blessing in my life.

We had a week off and that we celebrated Brett's birthday, Valentine's day, and also welcomed a new member to the Kittrell family. World, meet Marcie.....

She's a sweet little girl and we are happy she is ours! :)

Oh, and just because I happen to think she is precious, we also took this sweet girls 6 month pictures. 

I know, I can hardly handle the cuteness. I am a proud aunt.

This month I also began a new Bible study at my church. We are going through Ephesians and it has been wonderful. There is just so much goodness in that book. I am loving being reminded of the gospel and thankful that I have been adopted and chosen as a daughter of the one true God. I have been learning a lot about my purpose. Currently, I am striving to be thankful for my daily routines that seem so insignificant. I am striving to be thankful for a job that I enjoy and that while it is not the only thing I want to do, it is what the Lord has for me to be doing. I am thankful for a wonderful home and my responsibilities here. I am thankful I have a husband who takes care of me and that I have the privilege to cook for and take care of him.

I have been reminded recently of Micah 6:8 that says, "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." --I pray that I can simply do that. I long to abide in Christ and have His love and His attributes to be evident in my life.

As for March, there are lots of exciting things happening... starting with welcoming another new Kittrell into the family! Ash and Drew are getting married this weekend and I am thrilled to be able to be the photographer of this wedding!

So it should be another busy month and I am excited and ready to embrace it!

The Best of 2012

Happy New Year friends! I cannot believe 2012 is over! Time really does fly. In keeping with the typical blog trend I thought I'd share some of the best and big moments of 2012.

January: One of the hardest months, lots of changes and lots of tears. Happier news was sharing my wedding photos!

In February we got to announce some of the best news of 2012! Mangs and Pudge were going to have a baby!

We also celebrated a dear friends engagement, Brett's birthday, and Valentine's Day.We also took a trip to Lagrange to visit Eric, Linds, and V.

This was also the month I got my new camera which was actually a pretty important part of 2012 :)

March brought some warmer weather.

Which brought about a new hobby of gardening.                                                                       I was a second shooter at my first wedding.

We also found out that this baby we were so excited about would in fact be a girl!!

April outdid itself! The BEST of April was the arrival of this angel,                                  Charlotte Elizabeth Blackman.

We also spent a weekend in Atlanta, and I second shot another wedding.

May brought the last month of school for Brett and I! Yes! It was busy and full! We made lots of gardening progress and celebrated 6 months of marriage!

In June we were out of school and hit the ground running with the craziness and fun of summer! We gave Mangs a shower honoring she and sweet Lucy Myer!

We also traveled to the beach for a week of fun with my family and took some maternity pictures of Mangs.

We also had the privilege to witness two friends tie the knot!

 We ended the month with a week long trip to Puerto Rico with Brett's family!! It was a busy month of fun!!

July was a little more restful! I learned a lot in our summer Bible study. We continued to anticipate the arrival of sweet Lucy!

We also celebrated Mangs birthday as well as sweet Virginia's 3rd birthday! It's time to meet the Muppets! :)

August was a long awaited month! We kicked it off with my birthday but I was quickly upstaged by the arrival of Lucy Myer Jacobs!

We also began school and tried to get back into a routine with me starting a new job teaching 5th grade! At the end of August I also started my new part time business, A Little From Laura Photography! :)

In September I took lots of pictures and did not blog too much :)

October was even busier with multiple photography shoots. That pretty much consumed my free time and it was incredibly busy! Oh, and we bought a house! :)

In November Brett and I celebrated a year of marriage! We also moved into our new home and celebrated thanksgiving!

Finally in December we decorated and did lots of Christmas activities (P.S. I'll blog about Christmas soon! haha) We visited family and I had the privilege to stand by my other college roommate as she got married this past weekend!

It has been a year full of many many blessings! I am amazed by the Lord's goodness and His grace in the life of my family! He is so good to us! I pray that in 2013 I will glorify Him more and seek Him in all that I do.

Happy 2013!

he & she (november 2012)

:.. he and she ..:

He was super busy with basketball games

She stayed busy trying to balance photography and teaching...

They celebrated a year of being husband and wife!!!

They celebrated their second thanksgiving

They closed on their new home

And are doing their best to settle in

They are looking forward to the Christmas season in their new home!

Our First House

So since we have moved into our new home I realized I never shared pictures of our first house. It was the house I cooked my first meals in as a wife and did loads and loads of laundry. Here is our cozy little house.....

When you walk in you see the den straight ahead....

To the right is the kitchen. I have to say, I am thankful that in this house the kitchen is a little bit larger! :) I spent a lot of time here and really enjoy cooking so this is a bonus!

Through that door is the laundry room. One downer of this new house is the laundry room is a bit smaller. The place I spend a good bit of time as well. haha. I LOVED this laundry room!

Another view of the den and then we go down the hall way...

To the left is our guest room.....

This house had 1 and a half baths. Thankful for the extra half we have in this new house! :)

 Then we have the master! Loved our room! :) Love our headboard!

I will say for the most part our house was actually this clean. MOST of the time. However, just to keep it real.....this was our office which went through stages of being organized and then stages such as this.....Hoping for a more organized office in this new house!

I really loved our first house but the BEST part about it was what we got to see when we walked out the front door. It was the best living across the street from my sister and brother-in-law and sweet Lucy for a few months! :) We miss them so much even though we are only about 10 minutes apart. It's just not quite the same! :)

Anyways, when this new house doesn't look like a bomb went off in it I will share pictures. Maybe it won't be a year :)